In search of Bach · 1685, the birth of three geniuses

As part of In search of Bach, a musical epic in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach (May 20-May 30, 2026)

Three major composers in the history of European music were born in 1685: Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel and Domenico Scarlatti. Born in the same year, they followed different paths and each contributed to shaping the musical landscape of a Europe still in its infancy.

This programme juxtaposes the Italian flamboyance of Handel’s Dixit Dominus, the Lutheran intimacy of Bach and the Mediterranean expressiveness of Scarlatti’s ten-voice Stabat Mater, offering a contrasting glimpse of the great richness of Baroque writing at the turn of the 18th century.